So we had our swearing in ceremony on 21 april. it was at the ambassadors house. i felt like i was back in america. I also stole some toilet paper from his pool house. we had some speeches by steve schwartz (google him) and by tom kennedy the country directory and some local zambians. we sang the national anthems and sang some songs in different languages and had some dancing. I had a dress made for the ceremony (i have pictures on my facebook page so check those out). I also found out the Hilliary Clinton will be coming to zambia for some trade conference that is happening in lusaka. sweet. I won't be able to meet her but super awesome anyways. we went to a bar in lusaka after our ceremony it was a blast. So now we are hanging out at the provincal house until store open up which is on monday because of the holidays. I will be doing shopping for my house on monday and get posted on tuesday. I get my national registration card on tuesday also. I have pictures to post but that will come later. I also have a lot of videos but I am going to send my SD cards to home and have my family upload them, it is too costly to wait for them to upload here at a cafe. Thanks for all warm congrats from family and friends. I hear there are some crazy tornadoes in the midwest. stay safe and get in the lowest part of your house.
Be Free.
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Update...
So i got called fat again for the third time since living with my family. the first time was while i was showing my host family pictures of my family in america and they said we were all fat. and this most recent time was because the volunteer before my looks like me because we are both fat. it is a compliment to be called fat in zambia.
we also got scolded by our training director because we took a hitch last friday on the back of a shake shake truck around 1130. o well. so the solution they came up with for us to be able to drink and be safe was to drive us to and from the bar and be home before dark. so last night we went to aaron's den bar in chongwe to celebrate our last weekend together. we made guacamole, sausages and had a lot of fun. well the bus that was supposed to pick us up didn't show until it was after dark. so i flagged down a trunk and we hitched in the bed of the truck home. it was fantastic.
We have cultural day on tuesday which means all of our host families are going to come together at the training center and we are going to cook american food for them. we will have speeches, dances and gift giving. I plan on printing a few family pictures and giving them to my family on a frame. I also have post cards of Indiana that my dad sent me that I will write on the back and give to them. Then we leave directly after that ceremony to stay in Lusaka for two days and have our swearing in ceremony and shop for our hut. We will then leave from there to out provincal houses and stay for a few more days and do more shopping then we will finally be posted. For the first three months it is called community entry which means we are just trying to intergrate ourselves into our new community. we will not be coplanning or co teaching we will be assess the needs/wants of our community. we also are not allowed to travel at this time.
so apparently some of the peace corps volunteers know some zambian musicians one being Daliso. one of our trainers actually was able to dance on stage with him at a concert and a lot of volunteers have his number too.
I had my final language test on friday. which went well it could have gone worse, which is good I guess. we then watched some movies in the giant insaka (gazeebo). we watched Pineapple express and part of Love actually.
I got a dress made out of citenge for the swearing in ceremony. It only cost 50,000 kwacha and it is perfect. I had one of the girls draw a picture and gave it to the tailor and it is beautiful.
So more kids keep showing up on my compound because it is holiday now. they have holiday in april, august and december-it just means that there is no school during those months. so some of my kids, their parents work in bigger cities as teachers so they live with their grandma well now that it is holiday, the parents and their other children are coming to our house to stay for the holiday break.
so my sister got engaged and asked me to be her bridesmaid I said no of course. she is planning on a cruise maybe in october so hopefully I will be able to attend. and apparently my mom accecpted an offer on her house, not sure because she is on vacation in georgia with her friends and is ignoring my phone calls.
I had a strange interaction with my neighbor the other night. she came inside to the house where myself and my sister choolwe eat every night. the other family members eat outside on the reed mat. my neighbor, patrica, said she wanted to eat with us and so she sat down but did not put food on her plate so I told her to start eating. she said she alreay ate but wanted to sit and watch me eat. I also told her that some of us were going to a bar down the street and she wanted me to bring her back some shake shake (beer) i told her to come. she said she couldnt because her husband would beat her. very strange and not cool all at the same time.
so I am going to post some tonga words for Beckys class :
bag-bbeeke
book-bbuku
chair-cuuno
pencil-mpensulo
desk-desiki
chalkboard-bboodi
chalk-ncoko
pen-bbopeni
clock-nkoloko
ruler-lula
some of the words are corrupted meaning that sound like the english word. most of the words are said like they sound.
Thanks
Be Free.
we also got scolded by our training director because we took a hitch last friday on the back of a shake shake truck around 1130. o well. so the solution they came up with for us to be able to drink and be safe was to drive us to and from the bar and be home before dark. so last night we went to aaron's den bar in chongwe to celebrate our last weekend together. we made guacamole, sausages and had a lot of fun. well the bus that was supposed to pick us up didn't show until it was after dark. so i flagged down a trunk and we hitched in the bed of the truck home. it was fantastic.
We have cultural day on tuesday which means all of our host families are going to come together at the training center and we are going to cook american food for them. we will have speeches, dances and gift giving. I plan on printing a few family pictures and giving them to my family on a frame. I also have post cards of Indiana that my dad sent me that I will write on the back and give to them. Then we leave directly after that ceremony to stay in Lusaka for two days and have our swearing in ceremony and shop for our hut. We will then leave from there to out provincal houses and stay for a few more days and do more shopping then we will finally be posted. For the first three months it is called community entry which means we are just trying to intergrate ourselves into our new community. we will not be coplanning or co teaching we will be assess the needs/wants of our community. we also are not allowed to travel at this time.
so apparently some of the peace corps volunteers know some zambian musicians one being Daliso. one of our trainers actually was able to dance on stage with him at a concert and a lot of volunteers have his number too.
I had my final language test on friday. which went well it could have gone worse, which is good I guess. we then watched some movies in the giant insaka (gazeebo). we watched Pineapple express and part of Love actually.
I got a dress made out of citenge for the swearing in ceremony. It only cost 50,000 kwacha and it is perfect. I had one of the girls draw a picture and gave it to the tailor and it is beautiful.
So more kids keep showing up on my compound because it is holiday now. they have holiday in april, august and december-it just means that there is no school during those months. so some of my kids, their parents work in bigger cities as teachers so they live with their grandma well now that it is holiday, the parents and their other children are coming to our house to stay for the holiday break.
so my sister got engaged and asked me to be her bridesmaid I said no of course. she is planning on a cruise maybe in october so hopefully I will be able to attend. and apparently my mom accecpted an offer on her house, not sure because she is on vacation in georgia with her friends and is ignoring my phone calls.
I had a strange interaction with my neighbor the other night. she came inside to the house where myself and my sister choolwe eat every night. the other family members eat outside on the reed mat. my neighbor, patrica, said she wanted to eat with us and so she sat down but did not put food on her plate so I told her to start eating. she said she alreay ate but wanted to sit and watch me eat. I also told her that some of us were going to a bar down the street and she wanted me to bring her back some shake shake (beer) i told her to come. she said she couldnt because her husband would beat her. very strange and not cool all at the same time.
so I am going to post some tonga words for Beckys class :
bag-bbeeke
book-bbuku
chair-cuuno
pencil-mpensulo
desk-desiki
chalkboard-bboodi
chalk-ncoko
pen-bbopeni
clock-nkoloko
ruler-lula
some of the words are corrupted meaning that sound like the english word. most of the words are said like they sound.
Thanks
Be Free.
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Two Weeks Left...
So Zambia is amazing. I went to second site visit, which is were we go and stay for 5 days at our home in our village to explore the area before we actually get posted. Then we went to have language class in another village for 3 days then came back to our homestay families. I love my house, my toilet(hole in the ground) and my bathing area. I went to visit 2 schools in my area there are 7 and two community schools, but only about 3 are in riding distance. I also saw the clinic which is in the process of building more rooms for patients. I hitched to Choma to check out the provincal house, that was awesome. I also am getting some furniture made, a 4 post bed, coffee table, food shelf and a wardrobe closet. When we went to the other village we went to visit with a senior headman where he gave us a pigeon that I killed and we ate. I also milked a cow while we were there. All the schools start off the day by gathering around the flag pole and sing the national anthem. This is when the head teacher aka principal makes annoucements for the day. The pupils have class from about 7 hours till 13 then come back at 14 to do maintance around the school such as slash grass or sweep. I also saw corporal punishment. Not at my school at the other school we stayed at for 3 days. The teacher said if pupils show up late tomorrow they are going to be caned. I didnt think he was serious but sure as can be he caned pupils on the hand about 3 times each hand for showing up late for school. I can tell that this is going to be in internal conflict I will struggle with for the next 2 years. Almost every zambian teacher thinks it is the only way a pupil will learn not to do a behavior. we, my language group went to victoria falls. We stayed in a village called Pemba for 3 days as a language group and our trainer and had to walk about 11 km to get to the tarmac to get a hitch to Choma were our language teacher had connections to get us to Livingstone. I will bungee jump off the bridge before I leave. O I also plan on river rafting and taking a helicopter ride. Because there have not been any volunteers in Southern provinces for two years we had to stay at a school, other people stayed with PCV but we dont have any in the province so that was the reason we stayed at a school. Also, one of the girls in my language group was going to the bathroom and bats flew out while she was squatting over the hole. Needless to say we found other ways to go potty. I got dreads aka locks. I love them and the only up keep is i have to go once a month to my Boma (Choma) to get them relocked and they will wash it then. Other than that I do not wash my hair at all. I will post pictures on facebook of the falls and my hair and my new hut. So on April 23 I will be living in my hut by myself for the next two years and I can't even wait. I tried playing an Aprils Fools joke on my family by telling them I wanted to come home but they didn't believe my. my sister also got engaged HOLLA, she plans on doing a cruise not sure where but should be exciting. I will also have a new address starting April 23 but you can start using it whenever. And if you have already sent stuff to the other address no worries it will get to me, eventually. I love Zambia more and more each day and I can't wait to make improvements to my house. I plan on making a porch with some tarp and poles. I will let you know how that goes.
I found this qoute in Worldview Magazine, its a Peace Corps publication
"Zambia gets in your blood, inhabits your dreams and dares you to be smitten by its charm'
Be Free.
I found this qoute in Worldview Magazine, its a Peace Corps publication
"Zambia gets in your blood, inhabits your dreams and dares you to be smitten by its charm'
Be Free.
Friday, April 1, 2011
Lusaka Update
So we went to visit my future home in the Kalomo District in Southern. It is awesome. It is two rooms with an insaka a sweet ass bathing shelter and a nice toilet area. I went to my zonal school met the teachers and observed a class. I also had a pupil escort take me home on the first day and she did not have a bike so she sat on the back of my bike and we rode home. I still cannot start a fire i had to use my nieghbors fire. I made some spaghetti, fritters, eggs, and pancakes. (not all together in separate meals). I got lost on the second day going to school, so I had to tie ropes to trees to help me mark where I live. I visited a clinic and another school which is about 10 km away from my house. It was a pretty solid bike ride. I also found a local carpentar to make me a four post bed, wardrobe closet, food shelf, and a coffee table. I want to get a couch and two chairs for my sitting area. I also hitched to Choma to walk around and find the provicnal house. I also went shopping at DAPP got some new clothes. I killed a pigeon and ate it. I also got some letters from amazing people named Maria and Jill-do. not gonna lie, I cried. I also got a random package from my step-dad with about 100 hotel soaps and 4 shampoo bottles. It actually will be handy for my hand washing station. I love my house, my teachers, my schools, southern the language. It was amazing.
Be Free.
Be Free.
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